The Falcon Project

Doesn't that enigmatic name make you think of some kind of covert government operation focusing on signs of extraterrestrial life and mysterious happenings in deep space? That's just about right for this band's heady sound, which is dominated by mind-bending jams and interstellar grooves. Reverb shimmers everywhere as bright lines of fuzzy guitar duel with lazy keyboard lines beneath stormy percussion that sometimes falls like soft raindrops, sometimes like heavy hailstones. Sometimes this rocket ship goes full-throttle, but more often it's content to drift through the stratosphere. There are occasional stoned-out vocals, but for the most part, The Falcon Project is content to just coast the galactic highway in fourth gear. The overall mood and effect falls somewhere inside a box whose corners are Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Jimi Hendrix, and Sun Ra.

Wanz Dover, the guitarist for another Texas space rock ensemble, Mazinga Phaser, started The Falcon Project as a side project, but as side projects so often do, The Project took on a life of its own and became a full-fledged band. The group's other members include keyboard player Sean Kirkpatrick, bassist Will Kapinos, and drummer Matt Lawrence. Their first album, The Revenge of Sonic Soular, was a 74-minute "imaginary soundtrack" to a movie about a mysterious character by the afore-mentioned name. On their follow-up, 2000's Lights Karma Action (which houses all three featured tracks), they go less cinematic and more rock, but their instrumental jams are no less way far out.